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Thursday, October 19, 2006

Dickerson Tops Carson In Latest Poll

CARSON'S RE-ELECTION BID IN TROUBLESending shock waves through local and national Democratic circles, a new WTHR-TV poll shows that Republican Eric Dickerson has erased a big lead earlier polls showed for Rep. Julia Carson (D) and has taken a slight lead in the race, edging her by a 45%-42% margin. Of those surveyed, 9% were undecided while another 4% of the voters favored a third candidate. As Democrats have spent the past year focusing on Indiana's 2nd, 8th and 9th congressional districts, Eric Dickerson has been working hard in the trenches like Mike Mulligan and the little steamshovel that could.

A poll taken a little more than a month ago by WISH-TV showed Carson with a seemingly insurmountable twenty-point lead of 55%-35%. Carson stunned local political observers when she went on the offensive and publicly attacked Dickerson for a 15-year-old unproven allegation of domestic violence during a meeting with the Indianapolis Star's editorial staff. At the same time, questions have mounted in the public's mind about Carson's physical and mental health. These two issues have combined to work against Carson's bid to win a sixth term in Congress.

Particularly troubling for Carson in this latest poll is her personal approval rating. The poll found that by a 49%-42% margin, voters in the 7th District disapproved of her job performance. That's devastating for a 10-year veteran of Congress. Carson told WTHR-TV that she intended to remind voters during the remaining days of the campaign of what she had accomplished during her decade of service and what she will continue to do if she is re-elected. Dickerson, on the other hand, says the poll results are a confirmation of what he's been hearing from the voters, and that he plans to continue what he's been doing to win the 7th District race.

Although Carson's latest campaign finance reports show that she had $324,000 on hand as of October 1 compared to the $21,000 Dickerson's campaign reported, she has been nearly invisible on the local airways. Dickerson, with his limited resources, launched a modest radio ad buy to bolster his election bid, but his success to date appears to be based on the grassroots campaign he's been running for more than 10 months with virtually no support from the Republican Party. As Carson returned from the congressional recess to begin campaigning this month, her public appearances quickly raised questions about her health. During an appearance on WTHR's "Political Insiders", she raised eyebrows as her mind wandered and she began talking about a little girl who appeared and then disappeared. She asked where the little girl went. Similarly, a Star editorial reluctantly endorsing her re-election noted that her mind wandered and her answers were disjointed during her interview with the editorial staff.

It's a new day in the 7th District race. Let's see if the local media start paying attention to this race as it should have from the beginning. We've heard enough about the 2nd, 8th and 9th District races in the far reaches of the state. Let's start talking about the candidates and issues in the 7th District. Keep an eye out. The mainstream media doesn't like to be proven wrong. The Star, which has been Rep. Carson's number one enabler all these years, will most assuredly set out on a mission to set the voters straight from its warped perspective. AI will do its part to counter the onslaught which will invariably follow today's news. This election will be decided by the voters and not by the eggheads over at the Star if AI has anything to say about it.

My guess is that the next move will be for National Democratic Party to begin anti-Dickerson advertising designed to drive up Eric Dickerson's negatives. (To get a sense of what this will be like, imagine Wilson being given money, staff, and air time to produce television and radio spots.)

yeah, money and staff to point out that Dickerson still supports Bush starting his failed War on Iraq - that Eric's "plan" to stand down as they stand up is ridiculous since the USA has already trained over 400,000 Iraqi security foces but the need for US soldiers still increases.

Ms. Carson courageously voted against the War, Dickerson would still vote for it. We dont need yet another Republican in Bush's Rubber Stamp Congress!

Chris Douglas still hasnt answered my question about Dickerson's alleged "gay friendliness" - was this purely a verbal statement in private or was it in front of a group? Nothing in writing of course! It's good he's against the national GOP anti gay marriage Constitutional Amendment (he says). Does he think the existing laws are sufficient, not warranting messing with the Constitution?

Eric Dickerson is a glib used car salesman, willing to say whatever to close the sale. C.D. seems to be the only person who has heard directly from Eric about his alleged gay-friendliness. Douglas is an honorable man but Dickerson is slippery...

Wilson - PLEASE have Julia tell us where the little girl is!!! A child's life is at risk, how can she talk about caring for children and not tell us how to help. Please watch Indiana Insiders from Sunday morning to hear Julia's reference to this innocent child.

My criteria for a Republican politician (or perhaps any politician, for that matter) is that he or she be willing to adopt a public stance.

For example, I've had Republican politicians tell me where they are on a topic, but indicate that as a matter of politics, they cannot be public about it, nor can their vote be relied upon. You haven't heard a word of support from me about such politicians.

In the case of Dickerson, he has been very straightforward. When I asked whether I could share with the community his positions, he said I could. My sense of him is that he means it.

I haven't been attending campaign events of his or anyone else, for that matter, so I can't comment on what he is saying.

But I can say that when I posted a detailed analysis of his position on Bilerico, which did not sugarcoat the Carson allegations, but spelled out his positions regarding the glbt community, he was alerted by a staffer, read it, and subsequently called me to say that he thought it was very fair post, which I would say further affirmed those positions.

My feeling, Wilson, is that you are doing stalwart work as is your role, but that on this particular topic you are barking up the wrong tree.

Regarding Dickerson's position about current glbt marriage law, I don't know the answer.

As you know, many politicians friendly to us are loathe to address the marriage topic head on. For now, I'm satisfied that he is prepared to oppose the marriage amendment. I do suspect that he would be sympathetic to many of the concerns we have with regard to acheiving equal protection, but I have not pursued that in depth with him. Perhaps I will.

Chris - I don't see that happening. I would attribute this swing to blowback from the previous mudslinging by JC & Co and 300 East kerfuffle. More mudslinging could tilt things even further into Eric's favor.

The DNC and DCCC will see the big picture of their claimed "pickups" and decide to let this one go. There's no excuse why the congressperson from the 13th largest city in the US is so low profile and does so little on the house floor. The Dems see it. The GOP definitely sees it. The informed voters see it.

It's a new day in Indianapolis. The Democrats have come promising everything and delivering nothing.

I heard Dickerson say the he was opposed to a marriage ammendment. He also said that he is not about black, white, Mexican, or even GLBT rights. He is about human rights. Which obviously includes everyone. He had a very diverse staff at his dealership where I bought my car, unlike most dealerships I shopped at.

I think that the GLBT would get nowhere with the GOP, but Dickerson isn't drinking the GOP Kool-Aid either. That's a very important point. Although most of his views are consertative, they are moderate. Dickerson's agenda is to uninte instead of divide. He will represent everyone in the community, not just one sector. That is a good thing for everyone.

Although an ammendment is a huge issue for GLBT, there are many other pressing issues that will be met with common sense and fairness, instead of bigotry and hate.

Wilson I tell you my name every time I post on this site. I was standing right next to you at Robin Run, you even nodded to me and we talked at the Labor Day Parade. What more do you want. An invite to join us on the RV for cookies and milk? Maybe an invite to join the family for Sunday dinner. Next time we say hi to each other, let me know.

As a true democrat, I look forward to picking up the 2nd, 8th and 9th districts while losing the 7th. We need a change from Julia and her thugs including Drummer. Although I do not support Dickerson's stance on reproductive rights, he is a refreshing change. If Julia gets reelected, she will probably be replaced by an "appointed" thug which scares me.

Agree to disagree. Eric and I don't agree on the Death Penalty but at least he's consistent. Always Life. Period.

"she will probably be replaced by an "appointed" thug"

I've seen conflicting reports on this. One is she resigns and the pct. committeepeople pick her replacement. Another is Gov. Daniels picks a replacement and holds a special election within 60 days. Said "thug" would likely be Carl Drummer. In a special election we would be doing the same thing as now. However it's all a moot point because Eric Dickerson is going to be our next Congressman.

Anon 11:26 and Sir Hailstone, my understanding is that Dickerson does not support a change to Roe v. Wade. While you each seem to disagree with each other on the topic, I THINK you are making incorrect assumptions about Eric Dickerson's view... do either of you have information to the contrary?

Sir Hailstone and Anon 4:16, I asked this question directly of Eric Dickerson. It was a month ago or so, and not my principal topic of interest, so in the following please consider that none of this is direct quote, and indeed I may have misinterpreted. Still, I understood his answer to be thus: He is opposed to abortion. As to whether he supports the overturn of Roe v. Wade, I understand his answer to be no.

I hasten to say that I am now encountering many people who describe themselves as "pro-life" but would not vote to overturn Roe V. Wade. Of course, many people would consider that to be a "pro-choice" postion.

Certainly, people can be opposed to abortion, but also unwilling to impose on others their own definition of when human life is imbued with rights. Such people don't want to describe themselves as pro-choice, because they don't want to project that they themselves take life so lightly.

"Still, I understood his answer to be thus: He is opposed to abortion. As to whether he supports the overturn of Roe v. Wade, I understand his answer to be no"

That's really splitting hairs Chris and you know that. He has told both of us he's pro-life. OK we know that. Asking a congressional candidate about overturning a case of the US Supreme Court is kind of moot. It's like blaming Congress for it raining tomorrow. Like anyone can do a whole heck of a lot about the weather. The House doesn't even vote on confirming the judges - the Senate does that based on recomendations from the President.

Sir Hailstone, I don't actually think its splitting hairs. I'll put it differently.... To my knowlege he has said he is for life.... I have learned that these terms are freighted with more meaning than they actually have... that people impute whatever meaning they want them to have.

My understanding of Dickerson's position is that while he favors life, and would not support an abortion, he also would not impose his view on the topic on others who view the topic differently.

This is actually fairly common, and why the majority of voters tend to support Roe v Wade while personally opposing abortion. Or at least that's my understanding of what the polls say.

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